The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody -- Will Cuppy

Back in 2004 I wrote about one of my favorite books, Never Trust a Naked Bus Driver. Yesterday someone commented on that post and mentioned another of my favorites, Will Cuppy's The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody. I've had this little jewel on my shelves for about 43 years if the printing information is accurate, and I re-read parts of it all the time. To me it remains hilarious, no matter how many times I read it. Cuppy's sense of humor fits perfectly with mine. Even his footnotes are funny (if you're a person addicted to footnotes, this is the book for you). As far as I know, the history in the book is accurate, or as accurate as Cuppy could make it when the book was first published back in 1950. It's not the history that's funny; it's Cuppy's take on things. I was happy to be reminded of the book again, and I'll be browsing it with pleasure for a while. (For those of you looking for a mystery tie-in [not that I have one very often these days], Cuppy was a long-time reviewer of mystery novels for the old New York Herald-Tribune.)